Ghosts & Gilded Apples
by rotgardens
Summary: The Kanker Sisters & the Ed Boys discover a body in the mud near the cabin they're staying in over spring break holiday. Confronted with the vengeful spirit of the deceased, they are forced to ally with Death Himself in order to solve the mystery behind her murder. But can teaming up with demons and meddling with supernatural forces really end well for the Peach Creek gang?
1. Spring Break

**~~~ MAY**

A scrawny blonde leaned up against an ash tree, flipping lazily through the pages of the latest Evil Tim comic. Her pale legs stretched out in front of her and the greasy wrappings of a half-eaten cheeseburger stained her lap. Ed's jacket was draped around her shoulders, a box of cold fries hanging from its pocket.

Her boyfriend was sipping on a Slurpee they'd picked up at a 7-Eleven on the way to the remote cabin Eddy's brother had agreed to let them stay at for the week. He was reading Evil Tim #7, the prequel to May's issue. She had set aside the comic to finish her burger, so he leaned over and took a bite of it. "Almost done?" he asked, pointing to the open book in the grass beside her.

She flung the comic at him. "You can have it. You always finish before me." May enjoyed comic books, but Ed devoured them. "Give me some of your Slurpee," she demanded, grabbing for his cup. "Or I'll turn into a crab and take it from you!" She cupped her fingers and made a pinching motion, pouting.

He handed it over, already absorbed in the next issue of Evil Tim. She put the straw to her lips and they puckered at its taste.

Through strands of stringy blonde hair, May examined Ed's face. His features were big and masculine. A thick, jutting brow cast shadows upon his perpetually tired eyes as they lazily scanned the page. His expression was blank when he read, but May knew his brain was working like a machine. She scooted over and put her arms around him, planting a blue raspberry kiss on his cheek.

Instantly, his hand was tangled in her hair, pulling her closer. May was breathless, engulfed in his rugged scent. Ed kissed her sour candy-stained mouth and came away with a dark stain on his lips. Then his eyes were cast downward again, dutifully looking over the panels of Evil Tim #8.

May sighed, a smile playing across her lips as she looked over his body. She fetched his discarded copy of Evil Tim #7 and opened it in her lap. Ed took her hand in his and they read comics together until the sun sank behind the trees, robbing them of its light.

 **~~~ LEE**

The gangly redhead was clearing the leftovers of their dinner from the picnic table when Eddy called her over to the cookfire, where he was stirring up embers with a stick.

"I've got it, Lee!" Eddy was a small man, but with his confident posture and wide, excited eyes, he seemed larger to Lee.

"What is it?" she asked, setting down a stack of dirty paper plates. Her boyfriend's schemes were always absurd, but she loved to hear him gush. In her heart, Lee believed Eddy was a genius. She was confident he would have his day in the sun.

"We can sublet my brother's cabin," he began. "If we're staying here, who says we can't invite our friends?"

"There are six of us sleeping here, Eddy. Are you gonna sublet some poor sap a mattress in the bathtub?" she teased.

"We can rent it out all year after we leave, as long as my brother doesn't come back!" He folded his arms behind his head, pleased with himself. "If he shows up, I'll tell him we had a party."

Lee shook her head. "We're only supposed to be here for a week." The thought was ridiculous; she couldn't play along at agreeing to rent out a property she didn't own. Besides, something about Eddy's brother had always seemed off to the Kanker girl, although she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"He'll let me stay longer." Eddy was sometimes too confident for his own good. "He's my brother."

"Not if he knows what you're up to. He could sublet the cabin himself."

The boy was unfazed. "That's why we won't tell him, duh."

"You think he won't find out?" Lee was skeptical. "What if he has like, spy cameras installed?"

Eddy guffawed at the thought. "Then we've already given him quite the show, huh?"

The redhead blanched. "He wouldn't really put up cameras, would he?" Her voice was a coarse whisper. Self-consciously, she began twirling a short curl of hair around her finger.

He slid over to Lee and intertwined their fingers, brushing his chest lightly over hers. "Not in the shower, I'm sure," he purred, pressing their foreheads together. He was staring to stiffen in his pants, remembering the feeling of her slim, soapy body in his hands.

His breath smelled of margarita and cigarettes. Lee couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, you're sure about that?" she teased.

"On second thought, the shower is probably where he would put a spy camera," Eddy mused, "if he had one." When he moved in to kiss her, Lee shoved him away.

The boy yelped in pain as his back slammed against the ground. Lee felt a pang of remorse; he almost landed in the firepit. She offered him a hand, which he refused.

Perhaps because he made such a show of clambering to his feet, she was surprised to find herself pressed beneath him on the picnic table with his mouth at her neck. His shirt was open and Lee could see a few sprouts of dark chest hair starting to come in below his collarbone.

"I know where there wouldn't be any cameras," he growled in her ear, slipping a hand up her blouse.

She let out a soft sigh as he deftly rolled her nipple between two fingers. "There'd better not be cameras anywhere, Eddy!" But she forgot her anger as he continued to work his hands over her chest, and soon she was shrugging out of her spotted sheer blouse.

 **~~~ MARIE**

"There's one!" the blue-haired girl shouted, lunging forward to clap a glass jar over an iridescent beetle skittering up a tree.

"Excellent work," Edd observed, "and what a lovely specimen!" He shined his flashlight inside the jar.

It was so like her boyfriend to want to go bug catching on spring break, Marie couldn't help but laugh. He got so excited about his little science projects, and she loved to see the way his face lit up when he made a new discovery, but bottling beetles was not something the girl ever thought she'd be doing on holiday. Edd needed her in the field, though – he was likely to hurt himself out in the woods without her athletic prowess.

"Is it the one you were looking for?" As much as she adored the boy, her patience sometimes ran short.

Double D clicked off his flashlight, searching his pockets for an adequate lid. "Yes, dear. I've finally acquired the elusive strawberry marmalade beetle!"

Marie's relief showed on her face, but it quickly twisted into playful frustration. "Excuse you, I'm the one who caught it!" She stuck out her tongue.

Edd was unfazed as he sealed the jar. "You wouldn't have known where to find it, if not for me."

She sighed heavily, overemphasizing her exasperation. "Fine, we found it together."

He handed her the little terrarium. "As a peace offering, you can name her."

"It's a girl?" That interested her. "How do you know?"

"Males are typically smaller and brighter in color than females, and usually more orange than yellow," he recited on cue.

She lifted the jar to inspect the beetle. She was shiny and yellow on top with black legs sprouting from underneath her, and she clung tenaciously to the edge of the lid where Double D had sealed her in. The pattern on her back almost resembled the letter "K".

"Kara," she decided.

As the sun was swallowed up by trees in the distance, the sky around them turned from pink to deep blue. "We ought to head back," Edd suggested as the first stars emerged in the twilight.

Marie tucked the jar under her arm and took his hand.

They were halfway back to the cabin when she stopped to admire some birds swimming in the moonlight shimmering silver off the lake. She tugged at her boyfriend's sleeve, whispering in his ear, "Double D!"

When he turned to regard her, she pointed out at the lake. She had meant for him to admire the stars, the reeds, the beauty of the water, the shadows of the birds…instead, his eyes went to the muddy shore.

Edd's posture stiffened. When she followed his line of sight with her eyes, her heart seized in her chest. His hands were cold. Marie's legs went numb.

It didn't feel real until Double D gave voice to the fear clawing at her stomach. "That…that looks like…a body."

She doubled over and vomited.


	2. Weed, Speed & Spirits

**~~~ EDD**

"We have to call the cops!" Marie was clearly in a panic, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her sweater. She would never suggest getting police involved unless she was out of her mind with fear.

Edd tried his best to stay calm. "Marie, do you know how much Adderall Eddy's brother keeps up here?"

"I don't care about his drugs! They're not our drugs, why should we get in trouble?"

"If we alert the authorities, someone will get in trouble." Edd wanted to examine the situation thoroughly before deciding on a course of action. "And it will most likely be us, since we're the ones who found it."

"It?" The girl was sputtering, eyes wide, trying not to look at the body in the mud. "She was a girl, Edd!"

He glanced over at the corpse. Its legs were caked in mud and there was a sheet of linen twisted around its waist and clasped at the shoulder. "One can assume," he agreed. They had not seen its face, nor any defining sex characteristics, but its mane of blonde hair was pinned up in the beehive fashion.

Marie was kneeling on the ground to examine the body when he looked back at her. "Get up!" he commanded. "Don't get mud on your clothes!"

She hastily obliged, backing away from the corpse. Her shoulders shook as she began to sob and buried her face in her hands. "Like it even matters!" she managed to wail. "I threw up everywhere! That's my DNA, right?"

Double D softened, wrapping an arm gingerly around the crying girl's slim waist. "It's going to be okay," he told her, stroking her hair, "she was probably just a camper who left her food out and got mauled by a bear."

And then he felt the sting of her slap. At once his tongue recognized the metallic taste of blood.

"I'm already in the system and you know it," he heard her say. "I just got off probation. I can't get in trouble for this!"

"Then you can't tell anyone," he concluded. "You're a known delinquent. Police could reasonably assume you've escalated in the severity of your illicit activities now that you're off their watch."

She was hysterical. "What the fuck are we gonna do, Eddwa-?"

"Don't say my name!" he hissed. "Lower your voice!"

Marie was a mess. Her eyes were red from crying and mascara ran down her face in ugly wet streaks. Blue eyeshadow was smeared across her cheeks and the sides of her hands where she had rubbed away her tears. She was struggling to pull herself together. Her breath came in little shudders.

 _She looks pathetic_ , he thought to himself, _like a reflection of the terrified, anxious child I used to be._

"We probably shouldn't stay here," she whispered.

For some reason, the idea of leaving the area immediately had not occurred to him. Double D cursed his own lack of sensibility, but he admired his girlfriend for her ability to keep a level head on the rare occasions when he overlooked such an important detail as their own immediate safety.

They sky above them was black now, and Edd was forced to use his flashlight to navigate the trail back to the cabin. Marie followed in silence, leaving Kara trapped in her well-furnished jar to be swallowed by the mud.

 **~~~ MARIE**

Double D fumbled with his keys outside the cabin door. Marie pushed past him, barging into the smoky room where her sisters and the other Eds were passing around a joint.

Lee was stretched out on the couch, her head resting on Eddy's bare chest. She exhaled a plume of smoke toward them. "Where have you been?" she asked, more curious than concerned.

Double D took a seat on the rug near where Eddy was hanging off the arm of the old sofa, blowing smoke rings. He racked his brain for an excuse.

Marie's makeup was smeared all over her face. "Fucking in the woods," she replied, grinning.

There was no other answer the gang would have accepted, Edd knew. He had never been more thankful for his girlfriend's quick wit.

"Well you're just in time, come hit this!" Eddy exhaled deeply and passed to Marie.

She was grateful for something to calm her nerves. Taking a long drag, Marie Kanker sank into an armchair beside the dusty orange sofa.

Double D declined the next hit. Eddy was high as a kite behind him, so when Edd tugged on his shorts to try to quietly grab his attention, he just laughed and continued swaying to the hypnotic music exuding from May's portable speakers.

When the joint reached the youngest Kanker, she leaned over and exhaled the first hit into her boyfriend's open mouth. He was pressed flat against the couch like a deflated balloon, staring out into the room with glassy eyes.

It skipped over Ed – exclusively taking shotgun hits now – and made its way back to Lee. After handing the roach off to Eddy, she laid flat on the carpet to rummage under the couch for something.

When Double D tried again to catch Eddy's eye, he ended up getting hit in the face with a plume of smoke. After a brief coughing fit, he leaned in and muttered, "Eddy, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, just lemme finish this," he said, taking several small puffs off the filter.

Lee stood up from the floor just as Eddy set the roach in a nearby ashtray. "It's time to commune with the spirits of the forest!" she declared, producing a boxed Ouija board from under the sofa.

Marie's eyes widened.

Edd met her gaze from across the room, then turned urgently back to Eddy. "Now, please?"

He laughed, pushing Edd's face away from his, clearly in a daze. "But we're about to commune with the spirits of the forest," he teased. "I can't miss that!"

"It's really very important…"

"It can't be as important as the spirits of the forest," Lee assured them, butting in. She was sitting cross-legged on the rug now, fiddling with the plastic planchette as the others fell in around her.

 _The others can't know._ Marie nervously claimed her spot in the circle. Edd sat beside her and placed a comforting hand on her thigh. _Ghosts aren't real,_ he tried to tell her silently. _You're just afraid. Don't be._

Lee took the reins. "O, ancient forest spirits, we seek your wisdom!" Everyone huddled closer to rest two fingers on the planchette. "If you can hear us, tell us your name!"

It was Edd that broke the long silence that followed, and with a nervous chuckle. "I guess spirits aren't real, after all?" he concluded.

As if in response, the planchette began to shift across the board. A surreal tension filled the room as it came to rest on the letter C.

Marie glanced nervously at Double D. He tried his best to appear totally calm.

Everyone held their breath as the planchette slid to encompass the letter H in its oculus.

Then May's back seized up and she fell on the floor, convulsing.

Lee was on her feet at once. "May!"

"Is she okay?" asked Ed, backing off so the other girls could attend her.

Edd and Eddy still had their fingers on the planchette when it slid over the letter A.

Marie was frantic. "We can't say here!" she screamed.

Double D shot her a cold stare.

Lee rounded on her. "Why can't we stay here?"

"May's possessed!"

O.

"We found a body!" Double D confessed. "We can't call the cops, Marie found it!"

"We have to leave!"

Just then, May rose from the floor as though she was being yanked upward by an invisible force. Her body jerked upright into an uncharacteristically rigid posture, her face distorted by the shadows in the dark cabin. And then the blonde teen began to laugh, hysterically, in the most sharp and sickening tone any of the Peach Creek gang had ever heard.

S.


	3. An Empty Vessel

**~~~ MAY**

The blonde girl came to on the dirty wood floor.

There was an incomprehensible commotion around her, but her world was only as big as the feet stomping around her head, throwing clothes into open suitcases.

A voice cut through the white noise. "Guys, I think she's awake!" And then a mess of red hair came into view – Lee.

"Are you okay?" Ed bent over her, worried.

Her head was pounding. The girl propped herself up on her elbows, feeling heavy and shaky. "I think so," she tried to say, but her dry throat closed around the words.

Then she was on her back again, staring up at the ceiling. The rafters seemed to leer at her.

Ed scooped her up in his strong arms. "We're going home now," he whispered, nuzzling her forehead.

"Just as soon as we finish packing," Double D added, crossing the room to examine May's groggy, unfocused eyes with his flashlight.

She recoiled from the light. "What happened?" the girl asked no one in particular.

Lee shoved Edd aside. "You don't remember?" she asked her sister.

May shook her head.

"You were possessed," the redhead explained. "Marie found a dead girl in the woods."

"Double D found her!" Marie put in defensively.

"And she took over your body for a few minutes," Lee concluded.

May stiffened. "How long was I out for?"

"About half an hour," Double D figured after consulting his wristwatch.

"Long enough for us to pack up most of your shit for you," Eddy sneered. "We're all very happy you're awake, now it's time to start pulling your weight."

"Eddy, she hit her head coming out of the possession, so lay off!" Lee spat, instinctively defending her youngest sister. "Besides, you didn't lift a finger to pack her clothes, it was all me and Marie!"

"Well I don't know what's yours or hers or hers," Eddy shot back, glaring at each of the Kankers in turn. "And it was your stupid Ouija board that started all this, Lee!"

"This isn't helping," Marie spat. "Everybody chill out. May's probably way stressed." In truth, it was the middle Kanker who was probably most shaken by her experience in the woods, but any excuse for some peace and quiet would do.

Double D was going over a checklist in his notebook. "Looks like all that's left is to pack up the car," he started to say –

when May Kanker blurted out, "My cell phone. Where is it?"

Lee rolled her eyes. "Somebody call May."

Double D pressed his cell phone to his ear. The room fell silent.

"Shit."

"I must have left it…out by the trees…where we were reading, Ed."

Eddy collapsed onto the couch, crossing his arms. "Well this is just great!"

"I think you should forget about it, May," the oldest Kanker urged. "It's not safe here."

"It's the new iPhone, Lee!" she protested, climbing out of Ed's arms.

Marie laughed, blatant and cutting. "At least she's back to her old self again."

"I'll go into the woods," Ed said at once. "We'll find your phone, May."

Double D jumped out of his seat. "Ed, don't!"

"It's not safe," Lee repeated.

Ed was already pulling on his galoshes.

 **~~~ EDD**

Having decided it was unwise to leave Ed wandering around in the dark by himself, Double D reluctantly waded through the ankle-deep mud at his side. Rain was falling in heavy sheets and both boys were already soaked to the bone.

His mind was still reeling from the events that just took place. He had never been one for superstition, but that was before he'd _witnessed a possession_ with his own eyes. The physical symptoms couldn't be denied – May passed out on the floor and remembered nothing. She _flew_. None of this could be explained.

Picking his way through the woods with Ed now felt surreal as his mind struggled to process the ghost story unfolding before him.

The tall, broad-shouldered linebacker of a boy led him through a maze of brambles and into a shadowy clearing. The location of Ed and May's picnic was indicated by the wrappings of their lunch, still littered all over the ground.

Double D lingered at the edge of the forest as Ed lumbered over to search the bushes for May's phone. Edd dialed the number, but no light appeared in the darkness.

In the distance, a deep rumbling could be heard.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Ed!" Double D called out into the clearing as loudly as he dared.

"I have to find May's phone," he insisted, still shuffling through wrappers on his knees. "She just got it."

"Ed, I really don't-"

About ten feet away, a tree crashed to the ground.

"We have to go. Now."

The earth between them erupted in a shower of debris. A high-pitched buzzing sent a sharp streak of pain through Edd's head, bringing him to his knees.

Ed spun around just in time to see the enormous oak where his friend had been standing devoured by a huge, biting drill as it twisted its way up out of the earth.

"Double D!" His voice was far off and almost inaudible over the sound of the massive drill whirring. The drill bit alone was the size of a house and had just ground up an entire tree in mere seconds – the boy did not want to imagine what it would be capable of doing to his scrawny body.

"Ed!" he shouted back, scanning frantically for his friend as the drill began to recede. "Get back to the cabin!"


End file.
